Columbus, OH – Cris Caldwell, a fourth-generation auctioneer who has been part of the auction team at Tattersalls and Keeneland since for more than 40 years, has died at the age of 63, reportedly of cancer. Caldwell, along with brother Scott, followed his father, the late Tom Caldwell, into the auction stand.

Cris Caldwell. Keeneland Photo.

Cris Caldwell worked this past January’s Tattersalls Mixed Sale at the Meadowlands.

When he wasn’t working auctions, Caldwell ran the family’s Gavel Ranch in Eagle Point, Ore.

“Most auctioneers are busy doing as many as eight sales a week,” Caldwell said in a 2014 interview with Paulick Report. “My average is only two a week, so in advance of Keeneland I prepare by drilling myself, drilling myself, driving down the road in my truck. I’m sure the people who see me wonder what I’m doing.

“Most styles are an amalgamation of every auctioneer they’ve heard,” Caldwell added. “You attempt to borrow something from another person of note. It either works physically or not, if it rolls off your tongue or not. “

Caldwell said auctioneering came naturally – at least within the family.

“Our father had the family sitting around the dinner table practicing tongue twisters when I was five years old,” he said. “Little brown bug, little brown bear, eight gray geese, ad nauseum. Dad was an auctioneer and Mom was a recording opera singer. The mating was intentional and the breeding concept was to breed little baby auctioneers.

Caldwell is survived by his brother, Scott, also a longtime member of Keeneland’s auction team; and daughters Alden and Laurel.